A method for fabricating a semiconductor device, wherein the method comprises steps as follows: A dummy gate with a poly-silicon gate electrode and a passive device having a poly-silicon element layer are firstly provided. A hard mask layer is then formed on the dummy gate and the passive device. Next, a first etching process is performed to remove a portion of the hard mask layer to expose a portion of the poly-silicon element layer. Subsequently, an inner layer dielectric (ILD) is formed on the dummy gate and the poly-silicon element layer, and the ILD is flattened by using the hard mask layer as a polishing stop layer. Thereafter, a second etching process is performed to remove the poly-silicon gate electrode, and a metal gate electrode is formed on the location where the poly-silicon gate electrode was initially disposed.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method for fabricating a semiconductor device comprising: providing a dummy gate with a poly-silicon gate electrode and a passive device having a poly-silicon element layer, wherein a top surface of the poly-silicon gate electrode and a top surface of the poly-silicon element layer are coplanar; forming a first spacer on sidewalls of two opposite sides of the dummy gate; forming a second spacer on sidewalls of two opposite sides of the passive device; after forming the first spacer and the second spacer, forming a hard mask layer conformally on the first spacer, the second spacer, the dummy gate and the passive device; performing a first etching process to remove a portion of the hard mask layer and a portion of the poly-silicon element layer to form a recess in the passive device exposing a remaining portion of the poly-silicon element layer; forming an inner layer dielectric (ILD) on the dummy gate and the poly-silicon element layer; flattening the ILD by using the hard mask layer as a polish stop layer; performing a second etching process to remove the poly-silicon gate electrode; and forming a metal gate electrode on the location where the poly-silicon gate electrode was initially disposed.
2. The method for fabricating the semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein the formation of the dummy gate and the passive device comprises: providing a dielectric material layer and a poly-silicon layer stacked in sequence on a substrate; and patterning the dielectric material layer and the poly-silicon layer to form the poly-silicon gate electrode and the poly-silicon element layer on the patterned dielectric material layer.
3. The method for fabricating the semiconductor device according to claim 2 , wherein the dielectric material layer comprises an interfacial layer (IL) and a high-k dielectric layer stacked in sequence on the substrate.
4. The method for fabricating the semiconductor device according to claim 3 , further comprising steps of forming a capping layer disposed between the metal gate electrode and high-k dielectric layer.
5. The method for fabricating the semiconductor device according to claim 4 , further comprising steps of forming a working function layer on the capping layer, prior to the formation of the metal gate electrode.
6. The method for fabricating the semiconductor device according to claim 2 , further comprising steps of forming a source/drain structure by using the dummy gate as a mask, before the second etching process is carried out.
7. The method for fabricating the semiconductor device according to claim 2 , prior to the formation of the metal gate electrode, further comprising: forming a high-k dielectric layer on the location where the poly-silicon gate electrode was initially disposed; and forming at least one working function layer on the high-k dielectric layer.
8. The method for fabricating the semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein the second etching process comprises a wet etching and a dry etching.
9. The method for fabricating the semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein the steps of flattening the ILD comprise a chemical mechanism polishing (CMP) process.
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December 11, 2013
April 11, 2017
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